New Delhi, March 27 -- The Government of Pakistan has announced the deadline of 31St March 2025 for the repatriation of Afghan refugees from its soil. Pakistan shares a porous north-western border with Afghanistan. Both countries share religious and cultural heritage. Thus, there existed easy mobility across the border. However, after the 1970s, the migration of migrants from Afghanistan increased due to unstable political conditions.

According to the UNHCR data, the number of migrants was estimated to be 3 million in 1987-87 during the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan. After the withdrawal of the Soviets in 1992, almost 1.3 million refugees returned to their homes, but they were forced to come back to Pakistan because of the civil war i...